The document outlines a project at Glencovitt National School focusing on wind power and the engineering behind wind turbines, including their construction and operation. Students engaged in hands-on learning experiences, visiting local wind farms and adopting environmental initiatives to promote a greener future. The project aimed to raise awareness about renewable energy, the engineering field, and its impact on the community, while also encouraging sustainability practices.

1. XPERIENCE ENGINEERINGPROJECT BACKGROUNDGlencovitt National School,Ballybofey, Co. Donegal.

2. Inventions that engineers have contributed to in our school community

3. Electricity in our lives

4. We are studying wind power

6. Wind turbines Drawings of the invention showing how it works

7. MeasurementsNewly constructed windturbines. The windturbines are 157 m high, Vane length : 61.5 mRotor diameter: 126 mRotor area: 12.469 m2Blades: manufactured by LM Wind PowerTurbines: 5 MW manufactured by REpower

8. At 60 metres up from the ground the crane lifts the huge 12 ton gearbox and disk brake assembly in to position. The engineer stood in the nacelle and is in contact by radio with the crane operator belowEngineer in the nacelle

9. Turbines used in wind farms for commercial production of electric power are usually three-bladed and pointed into the wind by computer-controlled motors. These have high tip speeds of over 320 kilometres per hour. The blades are usually coloured light grey to blend in with the clouds and range in length from 20 to 40 metres or more. The tubular steel towers range from 60 to 90 metres tall. The blades rotate at 10-22 revolutions per minute. At 22 rotations per minute the tip speed exceeds 300 feet per second (91 m/s).A gear box is commonly used for stepping up the speed of the generator. Some models operate at constant speed. All turbines are equipped with protective features to avoid damage at high wind speeds, by feathering the blades into the wind which ceases their rotation, supplemented by brakes.

25. FEB. Worksheet. Green School elections. Target: waste and energy. FEB. Step 1 - select windturbines for projectSTEP 2 Visit windfarm, photograph, research on line, create drawings. NOV. Register to take part in Xperience EngineeringFEB. Visit from Mr. Ewing from Kirchhoff Ireland LTD. Class begins to try to make own Sudoko games. PROJECT DEVELOPMENT TIME LINEOCT . Attend science demonstration in Balor Theatre, BallybofeyMARCH – Visit Kirchhoff on site in Letterkenny. Green committee elected. Green Audit conducted. APRIL – Submit on line!!!APRIL – Worksheet 3. Present project using PP. Present to schoolAPRIL – School approved for funding to conserve water and begin rain harvesting

26. Reflection:Learned about windfarms in Donegal and how our unique environment makes us an ideal location

27. Windturbines can damage the look of countryside and can cause some soil movement

28. Airtricity gives back to the local community through the sponsored walk

29. Although we could see them from our school, we did not quite understand how the wind was turned into electricity

30. All pupils would consider engineering as a career and never knew that there are so many different sorts of engineers

31. Pupils found that it was difficult to draw the inside of the windturbines because all the parts were so detailed

32. It is difficult to find information on line about our local windfarm, though there is quite an amount of information about windfarms on line.

33. Windturbines are expensive and do not suit every area such as cities and scenic areas

34. Some locals believe that the sound of the windturbines can damage mental health, though there is no proof of this. Improvements to windturbinesLook at ways of reducing the cost of windturbines so that more homes and schools could buy oneGrants or cheap loans for people to buy windturbines like in Northern IrelandAllow artists to paint the windturbines that would tell about local folklore. To build visitor centres for tourists to come, learn and enjoy the area.

35. Teacher’s EvaluationPrep work & research tools: the pupils worked in smalls groups of two to three. They discussed and thought about an engineering feat that made their own lives better and more comfortable. Electrical items such as light, computer games, tv, laptops etc were top of each groups list. We discovered that one invention that improved our lives was electricity. We looked at the circuit and how it worked . This made us think about the theme of the project “Engineering a cleaner greener world”. We decided to explore features of our local environment, both built and natural. Windturbineswere an obvious choice. They can be seen clearly from our classrooms and playground and Airtricity organise and sponsored walk each year for local community based projects and we take part to fundraise for our school. The pupils are effective end users on the internet. They are quick to use the google search engine. We enjoy using our whiteboard for our searches and often find we can gather information quickly and easily. Our wireless keyboard and mouse make the whole search easy and helps keep the group focused. We also researched about Kirchhoff online and were surprised that such a state of the art engineering facility exists so close to us.

36. Integration & cross curricularEnglish – oral language development – parts of the wind turbines and using the terms correctly in a sentence word attack skills to decode unknown words editing and publishing work, recording own voice and attaching to PP (ICT links)

37. Cross curricularMaths/ geography following maps from school to wind farmlocating wind farm on the mapsusing the key to estimate distance from school to wind farmsestimating the dimensions of the turbines

38. Gaeilge/PEPlaying gaelic games in an irish speaking area through the medium of irish, close to the location of the windfarmTaking part in a local community different to our own and understanding the Gaeltacht areas have special minority protection – grants for establishing business in the area

39. Visual ArtsSketching and drawing of wind farms and turbines – looking at the lines, marks and shapes that make up the turbines. Create the illusion of wind in your drawingColour – how the colour grey blends in with the clouds in the sky – recreate the colour through colour mixingUse recycled material to create a wind turbine eg straws, plastic paper

40. Green schoolOur school has formed a green school committee and we are currently trying to gain green school status. This project is linked to Xperience engineering. aiming to create and greener cleaner future for all by reducing, reusing and recycling.use mechanical devices to harvest rainwater, push taps and conserver energy. Work as a whole school to achieve our waste and litter targets.

41. Group learning experienceThe focus was away from books and taking the pupils to different sites, bringing people to visit us and using the internet to learn moreWe made excellent use of our local environment, our parents were involved and we learned about wind power Wind energy “UNLIMITED POWER FOR LIFE”

42. DifferentlyStart the project in September rather than in the middle of the yearVisit the site at different times of the year to see how the seasons contributeFundraise to buy a small windturbine for schoolWrite to Airtricity or email them to get more information

43. Evidence of worksheet activitiesGLENCOVITT NATIONAL SCHOOL

44. Matching job description with title and picture

45. A study of Empire State Building NYC

46. SURROUNDING SKYSCRAPERS

47. HISTORY OF THE BUILDING -

48. LIGHTING THE BUILDING AT NIGHT

49. Town planning

50. town buildings

51. leisure facilities

52. An Engineer visits our classroomMr. Mark Ewing is a parent here at our school. He works for Kirchhoff Ireland LTD . He brought many parts that his firm manufactures.We learned where the parts go in the Mini.Mr. Ewing brought pictures that showed where the parts are in the car.

55. ActivitiesWe got to hold and keep the parts in our classroomWe had to guess what we thought the part was forWe had to point on the picture to where we thought the part would goWe heard how all the parts can be melted down later and recycledWe learned how the parts are coated to prevent rust

56. Environmental PolicyKirchhoff Ireland Ltd. is a first-tier supplier and manufacturer of pressed metal and welded components to the world automotive industry. The firm is conscious of their responsibility to minimise the environmental impact of their daily activities, and their commitment to this goal is an integral part of their business strategy. They are therefore playing their part in creating a cleaner greener environment for us all.

57. The parts Kirchhoff engineer

59. Parts that we don’t see in cars

60. Parts we should not see in carsPipes and cables are held in place with this partThis hold the radio in a carThis will keep the boot closed

61. BMW Mini parts are manufactured at Kirchhoff